Otakar Ostrcil

Vladimir Toms

Prague National Opera Company Chorus

Vienna

Opera

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SMETANA: Bartered Bride (The) (Prague National Opera) (1933)

KAREL SABINA

Select Complete Single Disc for

Prodana nevesta (The Bartered Bride)

1

Overture

6:04

Otakar Ostrcil Soloist

2

Act I, Scene I-Recit: Tak tedy prece se to stati ma

7:44

Ada Nordenova Soloist

3

Act I, Scene II-Proc bychom se netesili

0:58

Jan Konstantin Soloist

BEDRICH SMETANA

4

Act I, Scene II - Aria: Kdybych se co takoveho o tobe dozvedela

3:39

Otakar Ostrcil Soloist

KAREL SABINA

5

Act I, Scene II - Duet: Jako matka pozehnanim

2:17

Marie Pixova Soloist

BEDRICH SMETANA

6

Act I, Scene II - Duet: Verne milovani

3:41

Vladimir Toms Soloist

KAREL SABINA

7

Act I, Scene III - Jak vam pravim, pane kmotre

4:40

Jan Konstantin Soloist

8

Act I, Scene III - Recit: Ovsem Tobiase Michu znam

0:40

Jan Konstantin Soloist

BEDRICH SMETANA

9

Act I, Scene III - Trio: Mladik slusny a mravu vic tichych

3:58

Jaroslav Gleich Soloist

KAREL SABINA

10

Act I, Scene IV - Quartet: Tu Ji mame

4:50

Ada Nordenova Soloist

11

Act I, Scene IV - Recit: Jenik neupusti

1:40

Otakar Ostrcil Soloist

12

Act I, Scene V - Polka... Pojd'sem, holka

4:11

Otakar Ostrcil Soloist

13

Act II, Scene I - To Pivecko, to veru je nebesky dar

4:20

Jaroslav Gleich Soloist

BEDRICH SMETANA

14

Act II, Scene I - Furiant

2:04

Otakar Ostrcil Soloist

15

Act II, Scene II - Ma maticka povidala

2:03

Marie Pixova Soloist

KAREL SABINA

16

Act II, Scene III - Recit: Vy jste zajiste zenich?

1:06

Emil Pollert Soloist

BEDRICH SMETANA

17

Act II, Scene III - Duet: Znamt' ja jednu divcinu

5:55

Jaroslav Gleich Soloist

KAREL SABINA

18

Act II, Scene IV - Recit: Jak pravim, hezka je

0:34

Jan Konstantin Soloist

BEDRICH SMETANA

19

Act II, Scene IV - Duet: Nuze, mily chasniku

2:18

Jaroslav Gleich Soloist

20

Act II, Scene IV - Duet: Kazdy jen tu svou ma za jedinous

3:29

Jaroslav Gleich Soloist

21

Act II, Scene IV - Duet: Znam jednu divku, ta ma dukaty

1:55

Jaroslav Gleich Soloist

KAREL SABINA

22

Act II, Scene IV - Recit: odreknes - li se Marenky

3:43

Emil Pollert Soloist

BEDRICH SMETANA

23

Act II, Scene V - Jak mozna verit, ze bych ja prodal svoji Marenku

2:50

Emil Pollert Soloist

24

Act II, Scene VI - Finale: Pojd' te, lidicky

3:53

Vladimir Toms Soloist

Select Complete Single Disc for

KAREL SABINA

1

Act III, Scene I - To, to mi v hlave lezi

3:58

Vladimir Toms Soloist

BEDRICH SMETANA

2

Act III, Scene II - Pochod komediantu, Recit: Ohlasujeme

1:21

Jan Konstantin Soloist

KAREL SABINA

3

Act III, Scene II - Skocna

3:52

Jaroslav Gleich Soloist

BEDRICH SMETANA

4

Act III, Scene II - Recit: Je, je to bude hezker!

3:42

Jan Konstantin Soloist

5

Act III, Scene II - Duet: Milostne zviratko udelame z vas

1:39

Jan Konstantin Soloist

6

Act III, Scene III - Recit: Oh, ja nest' astny

3:26

Jan Konstantin Soloist

7

Act III, Scene IV - Sextet: Ne, ne, tomu neverim

5:43

Jan Konstantin Soloist

KAREL SABINA

8

Act III, Scene IV - Sextet: Rozmysli si Marenko

3:49

Otakar Ostrcil Soloist

BEDRICH SMETANA

9

Act III, Scene V - Oh, jaky zal!

1:50

Jan Konstantin Soloist

10

Act III, Scene V - Ten lasky sen, jak krasny byl

4:23

Jan Konstantin Soloist

11

Act III, Scene VI - Marenko ma

2:17

Jan Konstantin Soloist

12

Act III, Scene VI - Tak tvrdosijna, divko, jsi

1:28

Jan Konstantin Soloist

KAREL SABINA

13

Act III, Scene VII - Recit: Hle, hle, chasniku, cekas uz na penize?

1:07

Otakar Ostrcil Soloist

BEDRICH SMETANA

14

Act III, Scene VII - Trio: Utiz se, divko, utis se

3:44

Ada Nordenova Soloist

KAREL SABINA

15

Act III, Scene VIII - Finale: Jak jsi se, Marenko, rozmyslila?

6:01

Otakar Ostrcil Soloist

16

Act III, Scene IX - Dobra vec se podarila!

0:59

Emil Pollert Soloist

Ostrcil, Otakar

Bohemia had for centuries provided musicians for the Habsburg Empire, but it was with Bedrich Smetana that Czech music assumed a true national identity of its own. Born the son of a master-brewer in the service of Count Waldstein, Smetana had an early education that allowed only intermittent attention to music but he was later able to support himself as a piano teacher in the house of a nobleman in Prague, while taking private lessons. His aim, as he put it, was to be a Liszt in piano technique and a Mozart in composition. He was involved in the abortive nationalist rising of 1848 and took refuge for a time in Sweden, before settling again in Bohemia after the Austrian defeat by Napoleon III in 1859. His interest now settled on the new Provisional Theatre in Prague, where he became conductor in 1866, after earlier disappointment. His Czech opera The Brandenburgers in Bohemia was staged there on 5th January 1866, followed on 30th May by a new opera, The Bartered Bride, in a version that lacked the later dances. The opera was revised in 1869, when the Act II Polka was added, among other changes, and there was further revision, with the final version appearing in 1870. Smetana’s other operas were Dalibor, Libuse, The Two Widows, The Kiss, The Secret and The Devil’s Wall. the last of these was given an indifferent first performance in 1882, when Smetana was already suffering from the illness that would bring about madness and death two years later.

The conductor of the Prague National Opera Company recording of 1933, a model for later interpretations of the work, was Otakar Ostrcil, who had become music director of the National Theatre in 1920, a position he retained until his death in 1935. During his tenure he established a sound international repertoire for the company, while paying special attention to operas by Smetana and Dvorák, with first performances of works by Janácek. The company included the leading soprano Ada Nordenová, here in the rôle of Marenka, with the bass Emil Pollert as Kecal, and, in the present recording, a cast able to give a definitive historical performance of the most popular of Smetana’s operas.

"Ever since I sold my 78s and left home unencumbered, one of the albums that I’ve most often longed to hear again has been RCA-Victor M-193, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, complete on 15 shellacs, in a performance - by the Prague National Opera under Ottakar Ostrcil - that seemed at the time as pure an essence of romantic comedy as ever was. Now, I report with practically gurgling joy, it still does. Naxos, that most unpredictable of all labels, has reissued that performance on two little silvery discs that weigh about 1/200 of the pristine weight, in a remastering by restorer Ward Marston, priced at far fewer 2001 dollars ($12) than the original sold for in 1933 dollars ($22.50)...Naxos has now moved into territory abandoned by the majors, as preserver of the industry’s legendary past: not only complete operas but also forgotten unforgettable soloists. Marston and his crew create minor miracles in rescuing ancient sounds in their original - not beefed-up - resonance. And when Emil Pollert, the marriage broker in this new/old, glorious, best-of-all Bartered Brides, sings out his ’A chalupu a chalupu,’ I laugh myself silly once again, and the years fall away."

Alan Rich - L.A. Weekly, November 2001

"The CD incarnation of that historic set is now at hand and, as produced by Ward Marston for Naxos, its technical restoration is probably as good as the listener is likely to get. 1933 was a long time ago, and we have no right to expect anything approaching aural perfection. What we do get from this performance is authenticity in abundance. Conductor Otakar Ostrcil, who had been music director of Prague’s National Theater since 1920, gets spirited, accurate playing from an orchestra that copes with his sometimes breakneck tempos."

George Jellinek - Opera News - March 2002

"... The orchestra of the Czech National Opera under Otakar Ostrcil produces a veritable tour de force. This ’Bartered Bride’ is an early, rare opera-document, rendered by a one-hundred percent authentic Czech voice- and musical-culture. A great recording!"

Alain Steffen - Pizzicato - January 2002

SUPERSONIC ("Extraordinarily masterful performance. A must!")

"Naxos’ historical series has mostly been devoted to famous performances by celebrities of past generations. This set, though, is a real sleeper. A cast of Czech singers made the first recording of Bedrich Smetana’s classic comic opera, The Bartered Bride, in 1933. Acoustic genius Ward Marston has made the sound very acceptable on CD. These performers from nearly 70 years ago have terrific presence and terrific personalities. There’s no translation, but the plot summaries make the action easy to follow. The singers have the music and story in their blood. And conductor Otakar Ostrcil whips up the famous orchestral dances to a merry frenzy."